The Lens of Time

The first time I saw you, I didn't. Maybe in my heart I knew you didn't see me. Maybe I was just scared to let love bloom, or maybe, just maybe, I did see you. The veils of time blur the memory until time itself brings it back—stark, clear, sharp. This time I see you, through the veil, through time, and you, you see me too. You always saw me. I just didn't know.

The Unfolding

I welcome you,
You who loves me,
You who makes me smile,
Shows me the way,
Brings up sorrow, tears and pain.

I thank you,
You who teaches me,
You who leads the way,
Shows me how to feel,
Brings my darkness up to be seen.

Today we dance together,
My darkness and my light,
Today we love each other,
My turmoil and my quiet,
Today we hold each other,
My desires and my fears,

And so,

I thank you,
You who shames me,
You who makes me hurt again,
Shows me truth,
Brings up old, fathomless untruths.

I welcome you,
You who sees me,
You who hears my cry,
Shows me my magic,
Brings wonder, joy and good times.

Now we merge together,
A swirl of colour and light,
Now we sing together,
A song of radiance and might,
Now we're still together,
A silence so deep, so right.

The Risen

We are the ones,

A promise kept,

We rise above,

Darkness reject,

We shine our truth,

Fountains of youth,

We bring you love.

In love we walk,

Hand in hand,

Meet shadows deep,

Dark and sad,

In love we melt,

Cleanse and clear,

Till dawn breaks through.

We walk our talk,

Fall and rise,

We build new lives,

Call in soul tribes,

We find ourselves,

Hold your hands,

New days have come.

The House of Broken Clocks

Tick-tock, tick-tock,
One o'clock, two o'clock,
Wait a minute,
Is it three o'clock?

Grandfather clock
Sits on the fence,
Face shows three,
Chimes three times three!

The bedroom clock
Looks rather weary,
In her world it's already
Time for sleep.

Tick-tock, tick-tock,
Our clocks run amok,
Time collapse,
Future shock.

The Book of Love

In the Book of Love you'll find me
dancing to a melody - my own
tune, my memories, dissolving,
crumbling, mending.

Back to the drawing board take me,
fill me, complete me - find me
in wild flowers by the way side,
pebbles, brooks and landslides.

Through pages blank now draw me
out of nothing - building, creating
life-long journeys, painting
rainbows, endings, beginnings.

In the Book of Love you'll leave me
humming softly - a fresh melody,
new life, hope, harmony,
lifting, haunting symphony.

In Chaos

In chaos I found darkness,
Through chaos saw the light,
With chaos came clear vision
Beauty and wonder bright.

Chaos brought me illness,
Also strength of will,
Chaos both my nemesis
And ally if you will.

Chaos stoked the embers
Of memories buried deep,
Rising like a phoenix
Raging forest fires leap.

Chaos cleansed the fire,
Stilled my heart's erratic beat,
Washed away illusions
Mirrored in my dreams.

In chaos I sought mystery,
Followed my path, my right,
Midst chaos I surrendered
To love and faith - pure might.

Alex Spider and Friends Go on a Pilgrimage

Dotty Dormouse gazed in horror at the never-ending climb ahead of her. Her friend Fungus Frog was going through a Buddhist phase and had taken to calling himself a Disco Buddhist. This simply meant that Fungus did not really practice Buddhism but liked to talk about it to sound wise. The end result – a pilgrimage to a monastery in Bhutan called Tiger’s Nest.

Fungus’ fascination and enthusiasm for the beautiful place had rubbed off on Dotty and the rest of their gang. Alex Spider and Mitsy Millipede made up the rest of the gang. The three of them seemed to have missed the bigger picture, a picture that consisted of a never-ending climb up to their final destination.

Dotty mumbled and grumbled in her head as she dragged herself up the slope. Nobody had mentioned the possibility of being trampled to death by horses and people. They even saw a few horses tumble to their death while navigating the narrow pathway. This was to bring them peace? Dotty didn’t think so but Alex did.

“Just look at those lovely pine trees and the beautiful sky. Feel the silence, Dotty. It’s so peaceful.” said Alex. “That’s easy for you to say, Alex. You are riding on my back and I dare not shake you off lest I trip and fall off the path.” muttered a resigned Dotty. Mitsy Millipede remained curled, fast asleep on Dotty's back.

And so they tarried on while Fungus hopped and leaped forward effortlessly. “Dotty, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! You can do it.”  chanted Fungus every five minutes. Dotty’s silence did not echo wisdom, just fatigue. After what felt like lifetimes, they arrived.

Alex and Mitsy crawled off Dotty’s back to stretch their unused legs. Fungus popped his eyes out and gawped in undignified awe. Dotty did a belly-flop and came face to face with the feet of a monk. The kind monk picked her up and spoke to her in a soothing voice. Dotty’s eyelids drooped down only to open wide again at the sound of loud chanting.

That’s when they noticed her. She was cute and cuddly and looked down her hoity-toity nose at them. She wore spectacles and her name was Smitten Kitten. The monk put Dotty down beside Smitten so the others gathered around her too. “Do cats eat dormice, I wonder?” said Alex in a dramatic whisper. Fungus looked at Alex with a frown and Dotty shivered but Smitten did not seem to care.

The monk smiled at them in a reassuring manner and they felt better. Dotty pretended to sleep as she was not sure if Smitten would eat her or not. That rascal Alex had to go and put that thought in her head. So much for peace of mind! Fungus peered down at the book placed in front of their mat and tried to keep up with the chanting. Mitsy Millipede crawled away to explore the new world, which for her was the length and breadth of the mat they sat upon.

Alex couldn’t seem to stay away from Smitten. He tried to spin a web around Smitten’s tail but didn’t get very far. Smitten’s disdainful paw flicked her away without a thought. He then took to chanting. “Momos, momos, momos,” he chanted, trying to get a laugh out of Smitten. What he did not know was that Smitten only laughed at her own jokes. In her mind, nobody was as funny as her so Alex’s efforts to make her smile were in vain.

Alex was determined to win Smitten over and told Dotty so. “Shush, you two,” whispered an annoyed Fungus. Alex disappeared, came back with a pine cone and held it up to Smitten. A pretty yellow butterfly alighted on it just as Smitten glanced down. All hell broke loose as Smitten jumped up in fright, in turn startling the butterfly. It flew up and away and then back onto Smitten’s tail. Alex watched in fascination as Smitten ran around in circles chasing her tail. “I think she loves my gift,” whispered Alex to the gang, “look how excited she is.”

At that moment the butterfly alighted on Alex’s back. The next few seconds were a blur of motion – Smitten swiped at the butterfly but almost killed Alex instead, Mitsy jumped onto Dotty’s back ready for the great escape, Fungus helped a rather dazed Alex up, pine cone and love forgotten as they scrambled out of Smitten’s reach before she killed them all. And all because she was afraid of butterflies!

………

Alex Spider looked into the distance as he relived his death defying brush with love. “Eh,” piped up a small voice, “so that’s the end of the tale?” Lili Ladybug, Alex’s audience of one, looked expectantly at him. “Yes, Lili,” said Alex, “that’s the end of that adventure but there’ll be more and you can join us on the next one if you’d like.” It was Lili’s turn to gaze into the distance, starry dreams in her eyes.